Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear
Lots-O' Huggin' Bear, more commonly known as Lotso, for short, is the main antagonist of Pixar's 11th full-length animated feature film Toy Story 3. He is a large, magenta-pink, anthropomorphic, strawberry-scented teddy bear who used to rule Sunnyside Daycare like a prison with the help of his former Minions—Ken, Big Baby, Stretch, Sparks, Chunk, Twitch, Bookworm, and the Monkey. However, Lotso's reign of terror ended when Andy's toys arrived. He was voiced by Ned Beatty, who also played Otis in the 1978 Superman film, Charles Meachum in Shooter, and Tortoise John in Nickelodeon's Rango. Toy Description From The Official Toy Story 3 Website “Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear is a jumbo, extra-soft teddy bear with a pink and white plush body and a velvety purple nose. This lovable bear stands fuzzy heads and shoulders above other teddy bears because he smells like sweet strawberries! With a smile that will light up your child's face and a belly just asking to be hugged, Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear is sure to become a bedtime necessity. Stain-resistant. Spot clean plush surface with a damp cloth.” Personality When Lotso first greeted Andy's toys, he seemed like a caring, compassionate, friendly, and polite bear, welcoming them with open arms, giving them a tour and telling the toys that different kids at the daycare center would continue to play with them for years to come and that they would never be unloved or rejected. However, this was only a ruse as he was later revealed to be an evil, greedy, selfish, and tyrannical control freak who rules Sunnyside as a prison and imprisons new toys in the Caterpillar Room, so they can be abused by the young toddlers there. This nature was because of his owner Daisy accidentally losing him and her parents replacing him with a new bear, though he was considered to be a kind friend to both Chuckles and Big Baby before that happened. Because of this, Lotso has a negative philosophy about being a toy, believing that they're nothing special and only made to be thrown out in the trash. He even believes love is a complete illusion and while he the ruler of Sunnyside, he developed near nihilistic tendencies, as he stated that all toys were ultimately made to be thrown away. At the landfill, despite thanking Buzz and Woody for saving him from being shredded, Lotso holds on to his beliefs about toys and leaves the toys to their doom. Other Appearances Disney Parks Lotso makes meet and greet appearances at Disney's Hollywood Studios along Woody, Buzz and the other Toy Story characters and is part the then Toy Story Block Party Bash Parade (Now Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun) and at Disney's California Adventure. Lotso is a very popular attraction at Hollywood Studios and California Adventure. Quotes Trivia *Lotso is easily the most evil villain in the Toy Story franchise. *In a viral marketing campaign, Pixar posted two commercials, for a "real" Lotso teddy bear manufactured in 1983 (perhaps even longer), on YouTube. One was a typical American toy commercial from the 80's, and the other was done in Japanese. Both feature the "Toy Story Collection" version of Lotso and are included on the bonus disc of the Toy Story 3 Blu-ray. *Lotso is by far one of the cruelest of all Pixar villains, next to Syndrome. *The truck Lotso ends up reads "KRUMM". This same word was on Al McWhiggin's suitcase in Toy Story 2. *Lotso is the reprehensive for Toy Story 3 in the 10-Disc Ultimate Toy Box Trilogy set containing the whole Toy Story trilogy. *In the Toy Story 3 book with Woody's POV of the film, Lotso has more lines when he confronts Andy's toys at the dumpster. *The film tie-in book The Art of Toy Story 3 includes these interesting facts about Lotso's development. **He was originally conceived as a teddy bear from the early 80's Care Bears toy line. This idea was not dropped until after the storyboard was completed and can be seen in the **The animators also admitted that they increased Lotso's cruelty in the final version of the film in order to ensure that people understood that he got exactly what he deserved, as the test screenings had some kids still sympathizing with him after his backstory was revealed. **Lee Unkrich, the director of the movie, says he got the inspiration for Lotso's backstory when his niece left her favorite toy—a doll named "Peggy"—at a Burger King restaurant, and had replaced her with a new doll named Peggy. He wondered what the old Peggy would think if she came back and discovered there was a new Peggy. **In addition, Unkrich also mentioned the reason for Lotso's defeat. He refused to send him through the shredder or the incinerator because it would be sadistic. But he definitely got what he deserved on the front of the truck. *Lotso made a cameo appearance in Up, the last Pixar movie released before Toy Story 3. He was spotted next to Dee's bed when Carl's house flies past her window outside. *When Lotso is helped to the emergency stop button on the trash conveyor belt, instead of pushing the button to stop the belt and save the other toys, he glares at them and yells, “WHERE'S YOUR KID NOW, SHERIFF?!” This is a wink to the Internet meme “Where is your God now?”, a sarcastic way of inducing fear in a victim (the internet meme in turn originates from a line in a Billy Crystal routine making fun of the incongruity of Edward G. Robinson being cast in The Ten Commandments (1956): “Where's your Messiah now, Moses?”). *Lotso's defeat is fitting because it has given him two things he had been asking for: First, The true meaning of love, which he got from the garbage man, who remembered having a Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear toy as a kid. And second, A fitting end to a considerably miserable life, which he would face from the elements, bugs, and mud; and/or from eventually being thrown away again, leading him to die in the shredders or the incinerator. However, this is also a bad ending for him. Since one of the movie's themes involved characters finding their purpose in the changing world or perishing. In the end, his purpose is to perish. *His thick Southern accent, initially soft-spoken demeanor, and many of his iron fist policies as "Warden"—including throwing uncooperative prisoners into "the box"—are clear references to "The Captain," Strother Martin's character from Cool Hand Luke (as well as Lotso' voice actor, Ned Beatty's previous character, Sheriff J.C. Conners, from White Lightning). *According to the official movie magazine for Toy Story 3, Lotso was originally created for A Tin Toy Christmas (which later became Toy Story). *Lotso also appeared in every version of the Toy Story 3 Video Game. He appears in the Sunnyside level of the Wii, Play Station 3, Xbox 360 and PC versions with Ned Beatty reprising the role. He is also seen in the enchanted glen in their toy box. In these version of the game, his fate is not revealed or seen. He has a silent appearance in the Play Station 2 and Play Station Portable versions, and his fate is not revealed or seen here either. He also has a silent appearance in the Ninetedo DS version. In that version, his fate is revealed and seen. *Lotso appears in three of the LEGO Toy Story 3 sets. *Lotso's true colors may be hinted at before the release of the film in the LEGO Toy Story 3 playset based on the scene where he leaves Andy's toys to die. The set included Lotso trying to kill Woody and Hamm in an incinerator with the Aliens trying to save them. *In 2012, the Disney Store released a talking plush toy of Lotso with a talking Woody doll. *Test audiences who had sympathized with Lotso for his backstory had wanted to him to push the button in the incinerator scene to redeem himself. **However, according to the DVD commentary, director Lee Unkrich explained that the filmmakers decided to drop Lotso's chance for redemption in order to make the audience who had gotten to know Andy's toys over the past 15 years in three movies care about the characters even more as they went to the fire, when it looked like the end for them before the Squeeze Toy Aliens rescued them with the claw. **Another reason is because they didn't want Lotso to get off so easy, so they just increased his cruelty to ensure to the audience that he got what he deserved (being strapped to the grille of a garbage truck). *Some people blame Daisy's parents for Lotso's villainous demeanor, as they could have went to look for their daughter's lost toys, instead of replacing Lotso. It is likely that by the time they went back to where they left Lotso, he was already on his way home. *Lotso's later knowledge of Woody and his friends' escaping in the first place is not revealed, but it is likely that the Monkey managed to free himself and alert Lotso, leading to Lotso beating up the Chatter Telephone for information on Woody's whereabouts. *An advertisement for a Lotso bear appears in Tokyo in Cars 2, the first Pixar film released after Toy Story 3. *Lotso was originally supposed to appear in the first film, but the technology needed to create his fur had not existed until the third film. *In the Disney Cruise Line show Villains Tonight, hosted by Hades from the Disney film Hercules, Hades is looking for villains to call, when he mentioned Lotso. However, he doesn't call Lotso as he “always brings that baby with him.” *Lotso acts as a foil to Woody. Both were in charge of the toys at their location (Woody, Andy's House and later Bonnie's House; Lotso, Daisy's House and later Sunnyside), and both ended up abandoned by their former owner. However, Woody never gave up on Andy, while Lotso gave up on Daisy. Coincidentally, Lotso's behavior was very similar to Woody's original rendition in Toy Story, specifically his characterization in the Black Friday showing. Also by coincidence, both characters also ended up toned up/toned down for the final version due to unexpected events during a test screening (Woody was originally an immense jerk and lacking of compassion, but toned down after the Black Friday reel nearly shut down production of Toy Story; Lotso, likewise, had his cruelty amplified after test audiences sympathized with Lotso and wanted him to push the button to show that he got exactly what he deserved). *The truck that drove Lotso to sunnyside was a Pizza Planet truck, which has appeared almost every Pixar movie. *In the read-along version of Toy Story 3, Lotso's final scene on the garbage truck is never shown. *Lotso must be conisdered one of the darkest villains of Pixar for his ruthlessness and rudness and traitorous nature. *Lotso is the second villain of Pixar to be Pure Evil, preceeded by Syndrome. But Lotso was only Pure Evil and Syndrome was also Neutral Evil. *Lotso is the 5th villain animation to be Pure Evil, preceeded by Scar from the Lion King, Judge Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of the Notre Dame, Shan Yu from Mulan and Syndrome from The Incredibles. 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